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Business cards serve as calling cards, mini advertisements and icebreakers among business professionals. The most commonly used business card is the 3.5-by-2 inch rectangle, usually oriented horizontally. They are printed on 80-pound card stock and traditionally are single-sided. If you are considering designing your own business card, consider breaking away from tradition, which may prove beneficial in increasing your business's profile.

The Traditional Card Revised

Business cards are not business cards if they have no substance. All business cards must have two attributes: the name of the business or individual, and contact information. Some business cards are simple, with just the name and an email. Others have many lines listing phone numbers, fax numbers, addresses and multiple emails. After you choose what information to put on the card, you can get more creative with it. Make your card memorable by including a reference of some kind. A reference fits best on the back of the card and should be simple and, when appropriate, illustrated. A health professional might include a how-to reference for CPR. A computer repair person may include steps for troubleshooting a computer, with the last step being the business's phone number.

Texture and the Business Card

Some businesses decide to go with a material other than paper for their card, or they attach a non-paper material to the card. Wood, metal, fabric, plastic and rubber all can work. Consider why you want to use a nonstandard material before you decide to invest the money. A clear acrylic business card can look very sleek and modern. For a textile-related business, attach fabric to a card or use it on its own. Metal can convey strength. Keep in mind that nontraditional materials can have a downside in that the cards made from them may not fit well with other business cards a person has collected. Wood, plastic and metal cards can get around this easily if they are cut like a paper business card, but this may decrease some of the feel of the wood and metal.

Die Cutting

Die cutting refers to cutting paper into shapes other than the traditional rectangle. This can be as simple as creating rounded corners or cutting the card into a circle, or as complex as a custom form shaped to match an image. Rounded corners work well for businesses with a more contemporary design strategy and attitude, as well as businesses with a more informal company culture. Shapes such as a circle or triangle will make a card stand out and be memorable, but they may not fit into people's business card storage files. Cards that are die-cut into other shapes such as a coffee cup or a rubber duck are the most memorable, especially when an image on the card matches the die-cut form.

About the Author

Antonia Sorin started writing in 2004. She is an independent writer, filmmaker and motion graphics designer based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has completed work for the Long Leaf Opera Company, the former Exploris Museum and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She graduated from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.